History of Flight
The pilot, accompanied by his wife, took off from Toulouse-Lasbordes aerodrome at around 11:00. He reported his intention to carry out a local flight and left the tower frequency five minutes later. At about 11:20, he flew over Gaillac-Lisle-sur-Tarn aerodrome. A pilot and instructor on a Cap 10, positioned on the apron near runway 25, observed the Europa established on final approach for runway 25, stable with landing gear and flaps extended. They heard no radio transmissions from the pilot. The aircraft flew over the runway in an east-to-west direction at a height of a few metres, and it appeared to them that the pilot intended to land but had a long aiming point. During the missed approach, the aircraft gained only a small amount of height. Other witnesses saw the aircraft turn onto the left base leg and, about 20 seconds later, turn left again before disappearing behind a row of trees. The aircraft collided with the ground in a high nose-down attitude.
Wreckage Information
The wreckage was located in an obstacle-free field two kilometres south of Gaillac-Lisle-sur-Tarn aerodrome. It was grouped over approximately 15 metres on a north-to-south axis. The power plant had separated from the firewall and was at a 90-degree angle (to the left) relative to the airframe. The fuel tank still contained fuel. The three propeller blades had ruptured at the blade root. The electric propeller pitch-change motor was damaged and had separated from the hub. The cockpit was destroyed. The left wing was detached from the rest of the wreckage; ground marks indicated it was the first part of the aircraft to contact the ground. The position of the landing gear could not be determined with certainty, but the flaps appeared to be extended.
Aircraft Information
F-PHRC was an amateur-built aircraft provided in kit form by Europa Aircraft. It was a two-seat aircraft with retractable landing gear, equipped with a Rotax 912 UL engine (maximum power 59.6 kW at 5,800 rpm) and an Arplast PV50 constant-speed three-blade propeller with automatic pitch change. The landing gear consisted of a centre main wheel (bicycle type) and two retractable outriggers under the wings. A single control retracted and extended the centre landing gear, outriggers, and flaps. The aircraft was fitted with an avionics suite including an EFIS and an autopilot but no stall warning system. The minimum stall speed in landing configuration was 44 kt at maximum weight with zero bank. The propeller pitch was automatically controlled by a CSC-1 governor developed by Smart Avionics, which used a DC electric motor to change pitch. Examination of the pitch-change system after the accident confirmed that at impact, the blades were in the coarse-pitch position, the system was functional, the pilot had access to all relevant information on the governor screen (RPM, MODE, % PITCH, MAP), but the electric ground connection was not tight on the metal mount of the electric motor, resulting in random operation of the pitch-change motor. This ground fault prevented the motor from operating and thus any variation in propeller pitch, regardless of the mode selected (OFF, CRS, CLM, or MAN).
Pilot Information
The 90-year-old pilot held an aeroplane private pilot licence issued in 1994, converted to a PPL in 2011, with a valid SEP (T) rating. He had logged approximately 1,800 flight hours, including 1,700 hours as pilot-in-command, and about 36 hours in the previous 12 months. He held a valid class 2 medical certificate with a VML limitation for presbyopic optical correction. He was the owner and primary user of the aircraft and performed its maintenance.
Meteorological and Aerodrome Information
Estimated meteorological conditions: variable wind of 2 kt, CAVOK, temperature 24°C, QNH 1017 hPa. Gaillac-Lisle-sur-Tarn aerodrome is an uncontrolled aerodrome open to public traffic. The runway is unpaved, measuring 1,124 m by 60 m. The landing distance available on runway 25 is 1,012 m, and the take-off distance available is reduced to 1,022 m due to obstacles in the climb-out area.
Recorded Data
GNSS data confirmed the flight path described by witnesses and provided altitude and speed information. The EFIS computer (Dynon Avionics EFIS-D10A) recorded parameters every ten seconds. The examination showed that the final approach was flown at a speed between 60 and 65 kt with a vertical speed between -600 and -900 ft/min. At 11:20:10, the minimum recorded height over the runway (last third) was 27 ft (altitude 465 ft) and speed near 49 kt; the pilot then increased power. At 11:20:20, speed reached 51 kt and vertical speed increased to 130 ft/min. At 11:20:30, speed stabilized around 48 kt, vertical speed increased to 190 ft/min, and pitch attitude was close to 15°. At 11:21, at a height of about 150 ft, the pilot turned left onto the crosswind leg with a slight bank in level flight. At 11:22 (last recorded position), speed was 46 kt, pitch attitude close to 17°, vertical speed nearly zero, and the pilot was turning left (bank angle 11°) onto the downwind leg.
Conclusions
The pilot executed a missed approach after attempting to land and exceeding his aiming point. During the go-around, the aircraft neither accelerated nor gained height. Examination revealed that the control of the propeller pitch-change electric motor was faulty due to an improperly tightened ground connection, causing random operation. This malfunction, not detected by the pilot, very probably prevented the propeller from changing to the full fine-pitch setting, thereby degrading the aircraft's climb performance. The pilot then lost control while manoeuvring at low height with low speed and a high pitch attitude.